Catholic homily for Saturday of 22nd Week in Ordinary Time Cycle I
Theme: Lord of the Sabbath
By: Fr. Benny Tuazon
Homily for Saturday September 4 2021
(Luke 6:1-5) Saturday of the Twenty Second Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel Jesus gives a lesson on the Sabbath. It is a law to honour the Lord on the day of the Sabbath by not working, or refrain from doing works enumerated in the Torah. But for Jesus, these laws were not absolute. In cases where the welfare of man, and even animals, are at stake, the Sabbath gives way. God wants us to assess the situation in front of us and always decide to love, to seek the goodness of others . It is a discipline we have to imbibe if we are to remain in His love.
Discipline is part of believing. Fasting is a discipline in the Christian Faith. By fasting, we manage our bodily desires. We are not enslaved by our hunger, thirst, discomfort, tiredness, etc. We continue to live even when we fast. In the process, the devil, whose temptations involve those needs, is resisted and thwarted. We discover that there is life beyond our wants and needs. The devil fails in luring is to commit sin because we know that the deprivatio. Is temporary and not life threatening. In our emptiness, God comes to fill us and reminds us that He alone can satisfy us. Jesus did that. He emptied Himself (kenosis) even of His divinity and embraced our humanity. Even death had no power over Him who is life. God is in control. God is supreme over everything even of the Sabbath.
We cannot call it a transgression. It is a recognition of something more important and relevant. St. Paul refers to it as the spirit of the law. The law is not absolute. It is powered by the spirit. The spirit is to put order in man’s life. That order leads to an encounter with God, the God of order. Thus, we recognize the importance and utility of the law. But we must not fail to discern the situation and always be open to the Spirit of Jesus.